Mail receptacle

ABSTRACT

This invention pertains to an improved, detachable, portable receptacle for receiving mail inserted through a mail slot, which is easily attachable to and detachable from a mail slot in a door or other location. The receptacle comprises a simple frame of two U-shaped members hinged together and fitted with a flexible cloth forming a basket to receive mail. Chains and hooks are provided for attaching and detaching said receptacle to a mail slot and for closing it when not in use.

United States Patent [191 [111 3,802,620 Ferrara Apr. 9, 1974 [5 MAIL RECEPTACLE [76] Inventor: Rose s. Ferrara, 180 Christie St., Examiner-Bobby Gay Leonia, NJ. 07605 Assistant Examiner-William E. Lyddane Attorney, Agent, or Firm-James .l. Cannon, Jr.; James J. Cannon [5 7 ABSTRACT receptacle to a mail slot and for closing it when not in use.

4 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure 1 MAIL RECEP'IACLE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 'slot in the door or other appropriate location of a home, office or apartment.

2. Description of the Prior Art This invention relates to a portable mail receptacle which can be easily attached to or detached from the mail slot of a door or other appropriate location in a home, office or apartment. Mail slots have been in common use for a long time. When mail is inserted through them, it frequently falls to the floor and must be picked up. While on the floor, it is subject to possible loss or abuse through thoughtlessness in walking over it, forgetting to pick it up, or exposure to the elements when the door is opened. The taskof picking up the mail is burdensome at best and'sometimes even impossible for the handicapped.

A number of solutions to this nuisance problem have appeared in the art, most of which eliminate the mail slot and replace it with a box. For those cases in which this is not possible, two devices have been offered, neither of which has achieved any popularity. These devices are disclosed in US. Pat. Nos. 1,797,961 and 2,829,820. US. Pat. No. 1,797,961 discloses a mail bag which is relatively simple but lacks easy access to retrieve its contents and requires complex attachment to the mail slot or the frame surrounding the mail slot. US. Pat. No. 2,829,820 discloses an extremely complex mail packet which is too complicated and expensive to gain widespread popularity in the average home, office or apartment situation.

The present invention is directed toward a simplification of the prior art with a resultant substantial savings in the cost of manufacture.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention pertains to a portable receptacle for mail which is easily attachable to and detachable from conventional mail slots of a door or other appropriate location in a home, office or apartment. It comprises a simple frame consisting of two U-shaped sections hinged together for opening and closing the receptacle. Attached to said frame is a flexible, expandable cloth seamed to form a small receptacle for objects which can pass through a mail slot. Attached to the upper section of said frame are a plurality of hooks to attach said frame to a mail slot. Attached to the lower section of said frame are a plurality of chains or similar support means to hold said receptacle in a horizontal position under a mail slot to receive mail, the other end of said chains being attached to a plurality of hooks in a door or similar frame or supporting structure. Said lower frame also contains a hook for folding said receptacle upwards and holding it in a closed position by hooking it to a mail slot. The receptacle of the present invention is extremely simple in design, construction, installation and use, thus representing a substantial economic advance over the prior art.

Accordingly, it is the principal object of this invention to provide a simple, inexpensive and easily used mail receptacle for attachment to conventional mail slots to prevent mail from falling onthe floor when inserted through said slots.

It isa further object of this invention to provide a mail receptacle which is easily attachable to and detachable from a mail slot. 1

A more complete and detailed understanding of this invention may be obtained by carefully studying the following detailed description in combination with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a front perspective view, from the interior side of a mail slot, of the mail receptacle of the present invention illustrating the means of attachment to a mail slot.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 shows a fragmentary view .of a supporting structure A, which could be a door, wall or other StI'UCe ture in which a conventionalmaill slot B would be installed. Through the structure A is: a mail slot B having a slotted rear plate C, shown only to illustrate the principles of the present invention.

The invention itself, denoted generally by the reference numeral 10, is a receptacle for catching and holding mail which is inserted through mail slot B. Receptacle 10 comprises a flexible cloth 1?. which may be made of a plastic, plasticized, or netted material and which may be either translucent or opaque. Cloth 12 is one piece and is cut and shaped such that it may be seamed to fit on frame 14 as illustrated in FIG. 1. When so cut and seamed, cloth 12 forms a vertically extending rear wall 16, a front wall 18, two side walls 20 and 22, and a bottom 24, thus forming receptacle 10 to fit under mail slot B. Cloth 12 so'seamed is supported by frame 14 comprising two U-shaped members 26, 28 which are hinged together at their open ends as illustrated in FIG. 1. This configuration of receptacle 10 combines the elements of receptacle 10 in a novel manner to achieve the objects of the invention and enable receptacle 10 to be mounted to the mail slot B and-the supporting structure A in the particular relation illustrated in FIG. 1. The cloth 12 which may be of one piece should-be of a relatively strong but flexible material and the seams may be madeby sewing, fusing, cementing, stapling or similar joining means.

Frame member 26 supports the vertically extending rear wall 16. In normal position it has an inverted U- shape and serves to hold the rear wall relatively flat against the supporting structure A beneath mail slot B. Two S-shaped hooks 30, 32 are attached to the horizontal top of frame member 26 and serve to hook frame member 26 to the inside plate C of mail slot B. Rear wall 16-is attached to the sides and top of upper frame member 26 by seams and hangs downward in a substantially vertical disposition when receptacle 10 is attached to the supporting structure A, such that it lies flat against said structure when upper frame member 26 is attached to mail slot B.

The forward portion of receptacle 10 comprising front wall 18, sidewalls 20, 22 and bottom 24, which may be integrally formed with rear wall 16 out of one piece of cloth 12, are supported by lower frame member 28 to which the tops of side walls 20, 22 and front wall 18 are seamed. Lower frame member 28 is hinged to upper frame member 26 so that lower frame member 28 may pivot through an arc of 180 degrees. At the lower point in its arc, lower frame member 2 8 wouldbe positioned in a downward vertical position flat against supporting structure A. Midway through its arc, lower frame member 28 would extend horizontally outward from the supporting structure substantially as illustrated in FIG. 1. In this position, receptacle 10 would be in its normal position for receipt and retention of mail inserted through slot B. To hold receptacle 10 in this position, two hooks 34, 36 adapted to receive chain links are placed toward either end of the horizontal midsection of U-shaped lower frame member 28 and two hooks 38, 40 are inserted in supporting structure A some distance above mail slot B. Two pieces of chain 40, 44 are attached to hooks 34, 36 and 38, 40 such that chain 42 is attached to hooks 34 and 38 and chain 44 is attached to hooks 36 and 40. This simple configuration holds receptacle 10 in a horizontal position below mail slot B to receive and retain mail inserted through said slot.

At theuppermost point in its arc, lower frame member 28 pivots upward to be flat against upper frame member 26. In this position chains 42 and 44 may be detached from hooks 38, 40 and stored within receptacle 10. This would be a normally closed position. In either its upward position or its downward position, receptacle 10 would be stored out of the way so as not to interfere with the normal use of, or traffic past supporting structure A. To retain receptacle 10 in its upward or closed position, an S-shaped hook 46 located at the center of lower frame member 28 would be hooked onto plate C of mail slot B.

In use, receptacle 10 would be attached to supporting structure A by attaching one end of chains 42, 44 to support hooks 38 and 42 and hooks 30, 32 would be attached to plate C of mail slot B. Receptacle 10 is then in position to receive mail deposited through mail slot B. Receptacle 10 may be closed and moved out of the way by raising lower frame member 28 and hooking it onto plate C of mail slot B with hook 46. Chains 42, 44 would be unhooked from hooks 42, 44 and stored in receptacle 10. Receptacle 10 may also be stored by simply unhooking chains 42, 44 from hooks 38, 40, allowing lower frame member 28 to swing downward and lie flat against support structure A. In this case chains 42, 44 would simply hang loose or could be removed entirely and stored elsewhere. Another alternative is to simply detach the entire receptacle 10 as it was attached and store it elsewhere.

The receptacle 10 of the present invention can be easily modified to fit vertically oriented mail slots. The basic construction and principles of operation would remain the same.

In either configuration the mail inserted through mail slot B would fall into receptacle 10 from which it can easily be retrieved.

The mail receptacle of the present invention presents an extremely simple and economical solution to the very common problem of mail falling to the floor and becoming lost or damaged before it can be picked up. This mail receptacle is simple to install, simple to use and simple to remove or close after use.

To those skilled in the art to which this invention relates, many changes in construction and widely differ ing embodiments and applications of the invention will suggest themselves without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The disclosures and descriptions herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be in any sense limiting.

I claim:

1. A receptacle adapted to be attached to and de tached from a supporting structure having a mail slot therethrough and said mail slot for the receipt and retention of mail inserted through said mail slot comprising:

a frame having two U-shaped members hinged together at their open ends, one of said members being an upper member and one being a lower member;

a piece of flexible cloth attached to said frame members to form a receptacle for mail when the lower member of said frame is extended in a horizontal position;

said cloth being cut and seamed to form a vertically extending rear wall attached to the upper member of said frame, two smaller side walls, and a front wall attached to the lower member of said frame, and a bottom integrally formed with said rear wall, side walls and front wall;

means to attach the upper member of said frame to said mail slot to hold said rear wall substantially flat against said supporting structure beneath said mail slot;

means to attach said lower frame member to said supporting structure to hold said frame member and said receptacle in a horizontal position beneath said mail slot for receipt and retention of mail inserted through said slot;

means to attach said lower frame member to said mail slot for holding said receptacle in a folded, closed position when not in use.

2. The receptacle as defined in claim 1 in which said means to attach the upper member of said frame to said mail slot comprises:

a plurality of S-shaped hooks.

3. The receptacle as defined in claim 2 in which said means to attach said lower frame member to said supporting structure comprises:

a plurality of chains, one end of each of which is attached to said lower frame member;

a plurality of hooks on said supporting structure 1 frame member. 

1. A receptacle adapted to be attached to and detached from a supporting structure having a mail slot therethrough and said mail slot for the receipt and retention of mail inserted through said mail slot comprising: a frame having two U-shaped members hinged together at their open ends, one of said members being an upper member and one being a lower member; a piece of flexible cloth attached to said frame members to form a receptacle for mail when the lower member of said frame is extended in a horizontal position; said cloth being cut and seamed to form a vertically extending rear wall attached to the upper member of said frame, two smaller side walls, and a front wall attached to the lower member of said frame, and a bottom integrally formed with said rear wall, side walls and front wall; means to attach the upper member of said fraMe to said mail slot to hold said rear wall substantially flat against said supporting structure beneath said mail slot; means to attach said lower frame member to said supporting structure to hold said frame member and said receptacle in a horizontal position beneath said mail slot for receipt and retention of mail inserted through said slot; means to attach said lower frame member to said mail slot for holding said receptacle in a folded, closed position when not in use.
 2. The receptacle as defined in claim 1 in which said means to attach the upper member of said frame to said mail slot comprises: a plurality of S-shaped hooks.
 3. The receptacle as defined in claim 2 in which said means to attach said lower frame member to said supporting structure comprises: a plurality of chains, one end of each of which is attached to said lower frame member; a plurality of hooks on said supporting structure adapted to receive the other end of said chains.
 4. The receptacle as defined in claim 3 in which said means to attach said lower frame member to said mail slot comprises: at least one S-shaped hook attached to said lower frame member. 